Laser systems and methods insert a settling time before and after each tooling action. A peak AOD excursion generally occurs at the transition in velocity between inter-feature moves and tooling moves. This transition occurs both before tooling (on the approach to the tooling location) and after tooling (on the departure from the completed tooling location to the next location). By adding a settling delay on each end of the tooling period, the AOD excursion is allowed to settle to a lower value. This then allows higher inter-tooling velocities (for high throughput) while keeping the AOD travel excursion within the bounds of the system's AOD configuration.